Category Archives: World News

Russia-Ukraine latest news: multiple explosions heard in Kyiv after Zelenskiy warns tonight will be ‘the hardest’

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Reports say artillery rounds and large blasts were heard in Ukrainian capital; Russia vetoes UN resolution deploring invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked eastern European Nato members for defence assistance.

Zelenskiy spoke with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Friday to seek defence assistance from eastern European members of Nato and help in bringing Russia to the negotiating table.

We need effective international assistance. Discussed this with Andrzej Duda. Appealed to the Bucharest Nine for defence aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor. Together we have to put Russia at the negotiating table. We need anti-war coalition.”

Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany.

Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of everywhere.”

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EU, US, UK and Canada announce sanctions targeting Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov

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Move is largely symbolic but part of attempt to highlight resolve to stand up to Russia over Ukraine

The EU, the US, the UK and Canada have moved to freeze foreign-held assets of Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, after Europe was accused by Ukraine’s president of failing to act hard and fast enough against Russian aggression.

The initiative is largely symbolic, as the Russian president is unlikely to have identifiable personal wealth abroad, but the move followed recognition that appeals for action from Volodymyr Zelenskiy had to be heard.

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The fight for Kyiv: Russian forces enter Ukrainian capital

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Tense atmosphere in city threatened from north-west and east in what appears to be a lightning attack

Russian forces have entered Kyiv and were threatening the Ukrainian capital from the north-west and east in a lightning attack apparently aimed at seizing the city.

The defence ministry in Moscow claimed its forces had taken control of the strategic Hostomel airfield to the north-west after a day of fighting, while Russian tanks were filmed by locals in the Obolon suburb about six miles north of the city centre in the morning.

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Klitschko brothers, former heavyweight boxing champions, urge countries to support Ukraine – video

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Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have posted a video on social media, calling for action from around the world to stop what they described as Russian aggression in their country.  

'This senseless war is not going to have any winners, but losers,' said Wladimir Klitschko, who has reportedly enlisted in the Ukraine army. 'Don't let it continue happening in Ukraine, don't let it happen in Europe and eventually in the world. United we are strong. Support Ukraine.'

Vitali Klitschko, who is the mayor of Kyiv, has declared a state of emergency and called on the city's 3 million people to stay indoors unless they work in critical sectors

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‘Go fuck yourself’, Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island tell Russian ship before being killed – audio

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The soldiers who died defending an island in the Black Sea from an air and sea bombardment told an officer onboard a Russian navy warship to 'go fuck yourself' when asked to surrender. There were 13 border guards stationed on Snake Island, a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island owned by Ukraine that sits about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, when Russian troops bombed the island on Thursday. All 13 soldiers died after refusing to surrender

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J&J and distributors to pay $26bn to settle claims they fuelled US opioid crisis

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Settlements represent largest of opioid-related cases in epidemic that has killed more than 500,000 Americans over two decades

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors finalized nationwide settlements over their role in the opioid addiction crisis Friday, an announcement that clears the way for $26bn to flow to nearly every state and local government in the US.

Taken together, the settlements are the largest to date among the many opioid-related cases that have been playing out across the country. They’re expected to provide a significant boost to efforts aimed at reversing the crisis in places that have been devastated by it, including many parts of rural America.

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Covid recovery funding pits Italy’s dying towns against each other

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Programme that involves small communities bidding for slice of €420m fund sparks controversy and division

Perched on a rock surrounded by a vast nature reserve, the hilltop hamlet of Trevinano sent tremors across the Lazio region when it was announced this month that it and its 142 residents were in line for €20m (£16.73m) from a Covid recovery fund to save small villages on the verge of extinction – equal to a whopping €140,845 per resident.

“This initiative is generating a lot of envy and bad feeling,” said Alessandra Terrosi, the mayor of Trevinano, who has the responsibility for spending the millions before 2026, when the funding programme ends. The hamlet’s good fortune has fuelled rancour among its neighbours who missed out, raised questions over how efficiently Italy will invest some of the €191bn coming its way from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund and had critics asking if €20m is just too much money for one small village.

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China ponders how Russia’s actions in Ukraine could reshape world order

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Beijing is walking a diplomatic tightrope but crisis also offers the opportunity to express grievances against its adversaries

The news came as a surprise to many in Beijing. Barely 24 hours ago, Chinese pundits predicted that a war in Ukraine was not inevitable. In New York, as Russia geared up for a full-on assault on its neighbour, China’s UN envoy, Zhang Jun, urged in a security council meeting that “the door to a peaceful solution to the Ukraine issue is not fully shut, nor should it be shut”.

But when people in Kyiv woke up to sound of bombs in what the Nato chief called a “deliberate, cold-blooded” invasion, the door had clearly been closed. China’s state media, however, insisted it was a “special military action” by Russia. Quoting Vladimir Putin, China’s central television tweeted: “Russia was left with no other choice.”

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‘Of course I worry’: shock waves from Ukraine reach Taiwan

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With the threat of invasion from China ever present, people’s fears are playing out in eastern Europe

About 5,000 miles away from the violence in Ukraine, shock waves from Russia’s invasion are being felt in Taiwan. Until recently, Taiwan was considered to be one of the world’s most significant potential flashpoints for a multination war. It was heralded – albeit with some exaggeration – as “the most dangerous place on Earth”, under growing threat of invasion by Xi Jinping’s China, which considers the independently governed democracy to be a Chinese province.

This week its people have watched their fears play out in eastern Europe, as Russian forces – ordered by Xi’s ally Vladimir Putin – attacked in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday.

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UK says it will work ‘all day’ to persuade Europe to cut Russia off from Swift

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Foreign secretary goes on diplomatic drive to rally support for peak sanctions measure

The UK has said it will work “all day” to persuade fellow European states to cut Russia off from the international Swift payment system.

The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, ended the pretence that Britain was not at odds with its fellow European leaders over the issue. He said there was still time for Russia to be excluded, and the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said: “The UK is working with allies to exclude Russia from the Swift financial system.”

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Ukraine soldiers told Russian officer ‘go fuck yourself’ before they died on island

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Thirteen border guards died in air and sea bombardment on Snake Island in Black Sea after refusing to surrender

Ukrainian soldiers who died defending an island in the Black Sea from an air and sea bombardment reportedly told an officer on board a Russian navy warship to “go fuck yourself” when asked to surrender.

There were 13 border guards stationed on Snake Island, a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island owned by Ukraine that sits about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea, when Russian troops bombed the island on Thursday.

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Kyiv faces attack from Russia – in pictures

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As the invasion enters its second day, Ukrainians reel from the shock of the attack. The capital Kyiv is braced for the arrival of Russian forces, after Putin unleashed a full-scale ground invasion and air assault that quickly claimed dozens of lives and displaced at least 100,000 people

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Can Germany function without Vladimir Putin’s gas?

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Analysis: Nord Stream 2 was meant to deliver 70% of country’s gas and switch to renewable energy has been slow

The Ukraine crisis has plunged Germany into an intense debate about how it will heat its homes and power its industry in future, summed up in the short question: can Europe’s largest economy function without Vladimir Putin’s gas?

The Green federal economics minister, Robert Habeck, answered with a decisive “yes it can”, a day after the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, announced the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was meant to deliver from Russia as much as 70% of Germany’s gas requirements. There are considerable doubts as to whether the $11bn project will ever now go ahead.

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Effort under way to challenge Russia’s right to seat on UN security council

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In wake of Ukraine invasion, diplomats consider if Russia can be removed as one of five permanent security council members

An effort is under way to isolate Vladimir Putin diplomatically by challenging Russia’s right to a permanent seat of the UN security council on the grounds that Russia took the seat from the defunct Soviet Union in 1991 without proper authorisation.

Diplomats are also looking to see if there is a basis for removing Russia from the presidency of the council.

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Dominican Republic starts work on border wall with Haiti

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Officials claim the controversial barrier will stop migrant crossings, as well as drugs and contraband, from crisis-hit Haiti

The Dominican Republic has begun work on a border wall with Haiti, sparking controversy between the neighbouring Caribbean countries.

Construction began this week on a concrete barrier that will span nearly half of the 244-mile (392km) border between the two countries, with Dominican officials claiming it will reduce flows of migrants, drugs, weapons and contraband.

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Plastic summit could be most important green deal since Paris accords, says UN

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World leaders to gather in Nairobi next week to discuss first global treaty to combat plastic waste

World leaders will come together online and in Nairobi, Kenya, next week, in what is described as a “critical moment” in progress towards the first ever global treaty to combat plastic waste. Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Programme, said an agreement at the UN environment assembly could be the most important multilateral pact since the Paris climate accord in 2015.

Public disgust and impatience over the growing mountain of plastic waste has led to an unprecedented “degree of focus” that could see member states agreeing a blueprint for a legally binding treaty to control plastics “from source to sea”, she said.

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Singapore courts set to consider executions amid fears authorities want to clear backlog

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Case of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who has learning difficulties, among four to be heard next week

Courts in Singapore will next week consider arguments by four men who have spent more than a decade on death row, amid fears the city state may push ahead with executions to free up space on death row.

The Singaporean government does not disclose how many people are held on death row, though campaigners believe there are likely more than 50 men awaiting execution, the majority of whom have been convicted of drug offences.

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‘A flashy theme park’: outcry over Modi’s plans for the Gandhi ashram

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The site Mahatma Gandhi lived at during 1917-30 is getting a very costly makeover many think is meant to distort his legacy

Like most things in Mahatma Gandhi’s life, his ashram in the Indian city of Ahmedabad was simple and austere. Yet between 1917 and 1930, these modest white bungalows, set on the bank of the Sabarmati river in the state of Gujarat, were the beating heart of Gandhi’s non-violent freedom struggle against British rule and his experiments in upending India’s oppressive caste system.

Gandhi – who would eventually lead India to independence and remains a global icon for peace – left the Sabarmati ashram in 1930, never to return, and in the years since, it has become one of India’s most sacrosanct sites. It is where Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Xi Jinping, Benjamin Netanyahu and most recently Donald Trump all paid a visit to during their trips to India.

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